Jo's Thoughts by Jo Gardner Chiparohttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/
en-usLocal veteran is true American herohttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/66824
Valor is stability, not of legs or arms, but of courage and the soul. - Michel de Montaigne
June 25, 1950 began as a typical warm, summer day for Tilman Crody as he worked building a fence on Thompson Farm in Highland Township. Like most carefree 17-year-old boys, when not working on the farm, Crody spent his time hanging out with friends or swimming in the local water hole on hot summer days.
However, the news he heard that day changed his life forever.
Upon learning that 75,000 North...Wed, 17 Aug 2016 11:11:33 -0400History with all her volumes vast, hath but one page. -- George Gordon Byronhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/62911
**History with all her volumes vast, hath but one page. -- George Gordon Byron
When I was asked to write an article about the 2015 Grand Marshal of the Freedom Festival parade, I instantly thought of another Grand Marshal and the similarities of the two men.
In addition to being honored in the parade, both were war veterans, both were wounded in battle, both were extremely patriotic and both were exceptionally proud of having been a part of the country's history.
The huge difference is that...Fri, 03 Jul 2015 08:56:53 -0400It's the 70th anniversary of the Battle of The Bulgehttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/60774
December 16 through January 25 are not days that are marked on calendars or dates that many people remember, especially the younger generation. Plus, it is a busy time with people shopping, baking and decorating frantically preparing for Christmas.
However, for a few people -- and it is becoming very few since they are in their eighties or nineties -- their thoughts go back to seventy years ago with vivid mental pictures and, most likely, painful physical reminders.
Many Greene County...Tue, 23 Dec 2014 22:44:36 -0500Locals remember where they were on December 7, 1941http://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/60616
Editor's Note: In honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, GCDW is re-running a column by Jo Chiparo which appeared in the paper a couple of years ago.
Sunday, December 7, the United States observed one of two anniversaries that can be recognized by only referring to a month and a number -- Dec. 7. The other date is 9-11.
During the past few years, not much has been talked or written about the "day of infamy," the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After all, it happened 70 years ago,...Mon, 08 Dec 2014 11:59:00 -0500Serendipity bring opportunity to meet overachievers in Greene Countyhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/60045
I have had the wonderful opportunity in the past few years to interview and write about many talented and multi-faceted individuals who are and were overachievers accomplishing out of the ordinary endeavors and who are from - what appears to the outside viewer -- a most ordinary, tranquil southern Indiana county dotted with tracts of farmland.
As Norm, a chemistry instructor in which everything is seen in black or white as is with most scientists, was treating me to lunch before I moved here...Thu, 16 Oct 2014 23:19:16 -0400For a small village in France, D-Day is much more than a date on a calendarhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/58470
This 70th anniversary of D-Day marks another historical milestone of the June 6, 1944 landing in France when 73,000 troops stormed the beaches of Normandy during WWII.
The men who plunged into the cold, icy sea with rifles high over their heads dragging heavy gear against the water's swift current are 90 years or older -- that is those who didn't drown or who weren't felled by a bullet.
For younger generations, D-Day is an invasion in a far-off war, a date in history not unlike Civil War...Fri, 06 Jun 2014 17:30:14 -0400Vicksburg Church is gone, but the memories linger a lifetimehttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/57217
Memory is a child walking along the seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things.
Pierce Harris, Atlantic Journal
The building that had a lasting impact on my life is gone; the only trace is a cement footing where it once stood. A connection to my life, it was one of the strong threads that laced the fabric of my soul The Vicksburg Bethel Baptist Church was a living icon to me and hundreds of other people who remember the sanctuary...Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:13:37 -0500Surprising food is unique to our areahttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/56785
I didn't know noodles, as we serve them here in southern Indiana, were only indigenous to this locality.
As one of my favorite foods, I couldn't imagine that other people around the world didn't enjoy chicken and noodles.
Much to my dismay when I moved to another state, none of my friends "up North" served noodles, not even on Thanksgiving or Christmas. When I asked if they ever made noodles, I received a blank stare along with several questionable answers such as, "What are noodles?" or "Do...Mon, 20 Jan 2014 15:46:17 -0500Remembering a friend during her favorite seasonhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/55444
She loved the fall of the year, and each of these cool, crisp days finds me thinking of her more and more. Several other close friends must be having the same thoughts.
Even though October was Barbara Lehman's birthday month, that wasn't the reason she liked fall. Other than Christmas, it was a favorite time for her to decorate with fall colors, pumpkins, bittersweet and mums.
As with many of us, it was also the fun of attending fall festivals including the pinnacle of them all, the Covered...Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:58:08 -0400Our county, state loses a friendhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/51744
With the recent death of John Datena, Indiana lost an outstanding citizen and my family lost a wonderful friend.
Even though Datena has not lived in Greene County for quite some time, no doubt there are many who remember John's easygoing manner, his concern for the environment and his passion for saving and protecting the forests.
Not only did he leave a presence of history in Greene County but in the entire state.
The first time I saw John he was standing outside my parents' store talking...Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:46:09 -0500I'm looking forward to dancing the tango when I'm 90.http://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/49819
Alas! the fleeting years how they roll on. Horace
All at once, I awoke one morning and those so-called euphemistic, golden years attacked me like a thief in the night.
In this youth oriented world, I knew I would have to don a suit of armor and forge ahead with a smile through this safari expedition because it's much better than the alternative.
However, there are a few things for which I have to clench my teeth. One of those clinchers is the overwhelming curiosity of age.
Hardly trying...Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:30:30 -0400It seems like women are being pushed back to rumble seat in New York Cityhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/49075
"If the first woman God every made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, together women ought to be able to turn it right side up again."
Sojourner Truth
Hey, where are you, women out there who uphold the feminist movement?
Where are all of us who applaud the Suffragettes who transformed society by campaigning for property rights, guardianship of infants, access to higher education, and equal pay and legislation for women (some of which are still on-going)?
We...Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:21:57 -0400Like superglue, the sacred dimension of friendships cement women togetherhttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/48088
In her recent book Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, Anna Quindlen describes the importance of friends:
"Ask any woman how she makes it through the day and she may mention her calendar, her to-do list, her baby-sitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. Sometimes I will see a photo of an actress in an unflattering dress or a blouse too young for her with a heavy-handed makeup job, and I mutter 'She must not have any girlfriends.'...Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:50:32 -0400Mother's Day tribute: Her hands rekindle memorieshttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/47697
I once read that a doctor can look at a patient's hands and diagnose certain health problems.
Of course, an average person can't do that, but it is interesting to study people's hands that do reflect a person's life-- the rough callused hands of a laborer, the smooth hands of a socialite, the pink, soft hands of a newborn, and the red, chafed hands of a busy housewife.
When I think of my mother, the first image that comes to my mind is her hands.
As my sister and I sat with her evening after...Fri, 11 May 2012 14:15:58 -0400Love affair with tea started long agohttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/47543
I don't know when the love affair first began. It was so long ago that I actually can't remember the moment I tasted that first cup of tea.
It could have been at a very young age when I detested milk. My mother would let me have, what she said, was a cup of tea. But she didn't fool me; it was mostly warm milk colored with possibly a couple tea leaves.
As a child, when I spent nights with my grandmother -- who was much more lenient as grandmothers tend to be -- for breakfast she let me have a...Wed, 02 May 2012 10:50:24 -0400We must never forget what happened in concentration campshttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/46153
"To forget the dead is like killing them a second time," Elie Wiesel, Auschwitz survivor and author of "Night."
Many days throughout the year are set aside for remembrance and celebration, but I was unaware until a few days ago that Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
It was on that date in 1945 that Russian soldiers went into Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and freed prisoners.
This year's theme for Remembrance Day is "Children and the Holocaust." Keeping with that theme,...Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:39:55 -0500Out with the old and 'like' in with the new can be 'amazing'http://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/45690
The old man with the scythe crept out of 2011 without a whimper, and 2012, as new babies do, came charging in with noise, energy and optimism -- optimism for new administrations, new ideas, and a new presidential campaign.
Even new vocabulary words have sprung up and are being added to the 2012 New Oxford Dictionary along with a list of words that should be deleted.
After looking at the new words, I was disappointed. I doubt that I will have an occasion to add them to my lexicon.
For...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:02:24 -0500Out with the old and 'like' in with the new can be 'amazing'http://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/45682
The old man with the scythe crept out of 2011 without a whimper, and 2012, as new babies do, came charging in with noise, energy and optimism -- optimism for new administrations, new ideas, and a new presidential campaign.
Even new vocabulary words have sprung up and are being added to the 2012 New Oxford Dictionary along with a list of words that should be deleted.
After looking at the new words, I was disappointed. I doubt that I will have an occasion to add them to my lexicon.
For...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:19:05 -0500White Christmas lights provide a feeling of hope, peace, joy, lovehttp://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/45357
I love Christmas lights, especially white lights. They make me feel happy; I keep a few twinkle lights burning all year long.
And I'm not the only person who loves twinkling lights. At this time of year, houses throughout the nation are aglow with holiday decorations.
If we could ride through the night with Santa, we would see the constant sea of glittering Christmas lights from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from North Dakota to Texas.
It is thought that Martin Luther was the first person...Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:35:07 -050070 years later: Locals remember where they were on Dec. 7http://www.gcdailyworld.com/blogs/1666/entry/45075
Tomorrow (Dec. 7), the United States is observing one of two anniversaries that can be recognized by only referring to a month and a number -- Dec. 7. The other date is 9-11.
During the past few years, not much has been talked or written about the "day of infamy," the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After all, it happened 70 years ago, and many people aren't old enough to remember that Sunday in 1941 that was the beginning of World War II.
For others who do remember that day, it is...Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:39:12 -0500